


Four Weddings and a Funeral

by dabs_into_oblivion



Series: ASOUE post-canon [2]
Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 01:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18488260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dabs_into_oblivion/pseuds/dabs_into_oblivion
Summary: Five times the Baudelaires are together as adults. Klaus-centric.





	Four Weddings and a Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> ao3 doesn't like me adding tags on mobile, so i apologize for under-tagging.

The reception is lush, expansive. Klaus picks his way through the throng of guests surrounding the bride. There's so much to say and so little time to say it.

When he sees Sunny, he finds that he can barely breathe. She's eschewed the traditional white dress in favor of slim pants and a blouse, and she looks magnificent. She frowns. "You missed the ceremony."

"I know, and I'm sorry." He pulls her aside, bends close to her ear. "There are people here who we cannot trust."

She barely moves her lips as she replies. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

He nods slightly. "The library is burning."

"The toasts have yet to be made," she murmurs. "Go. I'll keep the guests here so they cannot find out until they leave."

As he leaves, she turns back to her wife, who is stunning in a peach dress. She leans in and presses a kiss to Lily's lips, making sure everyone's eyes are on them and not on her brother sneaking out.

~~~

Violet's wedding reception, in contrast to her sister's, is small and intimate, pretty much family only. Klaus takes a flute of champagne from a tray and sips it, pretending to relax.

A hand settles on his shoulder, and he nearly jumps out of his skin.

"Enjoying the wedding?" Duncan asks dryly.

"You scared me!" Klaus knows it isn't his boyfriend's fault, if anything he's done more good than not, but he puts on a pouty face in the hope it'll get him a kiss.

Shaking his head, Duncan obliges.

Beatrice interrupts them with a telegram from Isadora. After a few tense moments when Klaus isn't allowed to read over Duncan's shoulder, the other turns to him. "We have to go. Now."

Klaus starts to protest; Duncan grabs his hand. "I'll tell you in the taxi. I don't want to worry your sister. With luck, she'll think we left to find somewhere more private."

Violet watches as they leave, hand in hand, and a twinge of worry slips into her expression. Quigley lifts a hand to her cheek and strokes it. "Everything all right?"

She can't lie to him, but she also can't worry him. Maybe he'd be worried anyway. She smiles, crinkling the corners of her eyes as she answers, "I don't know."

~~~

Klaus and Duncan, in typical fashion, don't make it to their own wedding reception, because somewhere there's a building burning and they've taken on the responsibility of putting fires out. Somewhere, Klaus hopes, gazing out the taxi window as the trees and power lines zip by, his parents are proud of him.

This time it's a school. Klaus thinks, at least it's a weekend, and so he isn't expecting to see anyone, but as the taxi pulls into the parking lot, he sees something very familiar striding out of the flames. "Duncan--"

Duncan, who has stepped halfway out of the taxi, turns back just as Fiona Widdershins raises a harpoon gun. One moment he's looking at Klaus quizzically, the next he's lying on the ground, blood pooling around him, ruining his white suit -- Klaus told him not to wear white, it stains too easily -- and Klaus, without any hesitation or remorse, raises his handgun and shoots Fiona dead in the forehead.

~~~

Beatrice stands next to Klaus at the funeral, holding his hand tightly, blowing her nose quietly every few seconds. Klaus has cried himself out and stands silently.

There's food afterwards, of course, how could there not be? Slow footsteps and soft conversations about how much the deceased had meant to them. He turns to go outside again and almost rams into Isadora.

Her eyes are shining as she apologizes.

"No need," he says. "We were both clumsy and didn't look where we were going."

She agrees.

The silence stretches between them like a strand of gossamer, but it doesn't feel uncomfortable. Klaus ventures a step toward his sister-in-law; she closes the rest of the distance and slips an arm around his waist. In that moment, a sort of unspoken understanding passes between them, and he releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. He thinks he might be okay.

~~~

This time, Klaus does make it to his wedding reception, and when Isadora takes him aside to tell him that a bank is burning, he pulls her in for a kiss before leaving. He won't make the same mistake twice.

The driver's seat of the taxi still smells like Duncan, and Klaus hopes it always will. He grasps the steering wheel with fingers that shake a little and presses his foot to the gas pedal. "I love you," he whispers into the empty air, and maybe it's his imagination, but he hears Duncan's voice saying, "I love you too."


End file.
